Surgeons often use surgical patties during surgery to absorb fluids at or around the surgical site. Surgical patties (also referred to herein as cottonoids) are typically constructed of an absorbent sponge-like material, such as cotton, and are shaped as squares or rectangles having a string affixed at one end. Surgical patties also typically incorporate a radio opaque marker so that patties can be detected using x-rays.
Surgical patties typically are packaged on a liner in packages that contain multiple patties. For example, a typical package might include ten cottonoid patties on a cardboard liner. A nurse in the surgical suite must prepare the patties for use by removing the patties from the packaging and placing the patties on some sort of delivery device, such as a towel, basin, back of their hand, etc., in order to present them to the requesting surgeon. This method of delivery is not efficient and leads to inconsistencies based on different nursing techniques or individual preferences.
Certainly, it is imperative that the patty usage during surgery be tracked so that the surgeon and surgical staff can insure that all patties have been recovered from the patient. However, once the patties are used, there is likewise no consistent method or device to aid in the recovery and disposal of the soiled patties. This can lead to loss of the patty and time, and necessitate expensive tests to locate and account for all patties. For example, a patient has to be exposed to x-ray radiation to locate a missing patty to be sure it was not inadvertently left behind in the patient. This is due to national safety and hospital quality standards.
It is therefore desirable to have a device and method to aid the dispensing and recovery of surgical patties in a matter which permits quick and ready identification of the quantity of unused patties as well as the quantity of soiled and recovered patties.